Dwight E. Tarwater
Biography
Dwight E. Tarwater received his undergraduate degree in 1977 from The University of Tennessee, where he was elected a Torchbearer, the University’s highest honor. He received his law degree from
The University Of Tennessee College Of Law in 1980. He served as law clerk to the Honorable Houston M. Goddard of the Tennessee Court of Appeals. He and his wife have three children. He is active in
church work, children’s athletics, and other community leadership and service activities. Mr. Tarwater has vast courtroom experience, having tried cases locally, across the state of Tennessee, and in
several other states. On appeal, he has represented clients before the Tennessee Court of Appeals, the Tennessee Supreme Court and in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth, Tenth,
and Eleventh Circuits. Mr. Tarwater has been a member of the Knoxville, Tennessee and American Bar Associations since his licensure in 1980. He served as President of the Knoxville Barristers
(Young Lawyers Division) in 1987 and on its Board of Governors from 1986 until 1988. He served for nine years on the Board of Governors of the Knoxville Bar Association, as the Bar’s Secretary in 1988,
President-Elect in 1999 and as President of the Knoxville Bar Association in 2000. He served as East Tennessee Governor of the Tennessee Bar Association in 1991-92 and on the Board of the
Tennessee Young Lawyers Conference in 1986-87. He is a member of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, the Defense Research Institute, the International Association of Defense Counsel, Litigation Counsel of America
and the Trial Attorneys of America. Mr. Tarwater and his firm have devoted a great number of hours to the pro bono representation of indigent persons. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Knoxville
Legal Aid Society, Volunteer Legal Assistance Program, and Pro Bono Project. He has been an invited guest lecturer at The University Of Tennessee College Of Law, and he has been asked to speak at various
meetings of his professional colleagues. In 2002, Mr. Tarwater was first listed in the Best Lawyers in America, compiled through an exhaustive peer review survey of thousands of top lawyers. In 2003, he was
one of one hundred Tennessee attorneys selected for membership in The Outstanding Lawyers of America. In 2006, he became a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Lawyer of the Year 2009
KNOXVILLE, TN – April 8, 2009 – Best Lawyers, one of the oldest and most respected peer-review publications in the legal profession, has named Dwight E. Tarwater as the “Knoxville Best Lawyers Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year” for 2009.
Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community receives this distinction.
Best Lawyers compiles its lists of exceptional attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers submit confidential evaluations of their colleagues. The fifteenth edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2009) draws from more than 2.5 million of these detailed evaluations.
Dwight’s peers have recognized his outstanding abilities, professionalism, and integrity.
Steven Naifeh, Managing Editor of Best Lawyers, says, “We continue to believe—as we have believed for more than 25 years—that recognition by one’s peers is the most meaningful form of praise in the legal profession. We would like to congratulate Dwight E. Tarwater on being selected as the ‘Knoxville Best Lawyers Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year’ for 2009.”
Practice Areas
Contact Information
E-mail: det@painetar.com
Phone: 865-525-0880
900 South Gay Street, Suite 2200
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902-1821